Jabali Afrika brings Kenyan afro-rock to Orange

Jabali Afrika, an afro-rock Kenyan band, is touring parts of Texas to share African culture through sound and art.

The band, which formed after breaking from the International Theatre in Kenya in 1993, will visit Lamar State College in Orange on Tuesday in celebration of Black History Month.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the band gives a creative twist to traditional African sounds. According to its website, Jabali means rock in Kiswahili, and the band blends African music with modern styles.

Here’s what they had to say about their visit and Black History month:

Q What does Black history month mean to you and the band? A Black history in America should be every day. We should celebrate black history every day. It means a lot because black people in this country trace their roots to Africa, and it’s important for them to know where they come from. They should love and embrace their roots.

It’s very important to keep in touch and know more, not only for the way media portrays Africa. Just like it’s important for us in Africa to know about what’s going on in America.

A lot of people think America is all Hollywood, but it’s not. America has poverty, too. There’s so much in Africa — it will change their perspective.

Q What influences your music? A We compose the music from the traditional styles of Africa. The theater group was basically playing the same traditional songs. Our music influences are plays on traditions and other sounds. We listen to a lot of music. We try to compose new songs based on traditional music and what we hear. We wanted to be creative.

Q What are you looking forward to most with performing at Lamar State College in Orange? A Sharing our culture and also sharing the sounds of Africa. We just want to give them a different aspect of Africa through music and art.

Q What are you looking forward to most while visiting the States? A Experiencing America. America is very different. Apart from meeting people and sharing things about our culture and where we come from, we want to know more about [people here], too. Everything looks different from each other.